Tile for floor structures



J. H. TOUPET.

- TILE FOR FLOOR STRUCTURES.

APPLICATHJN FILED MAR-1,1922 Reissued May 30,1922. 15,369.

, '2 SHEETS -SHEET 2.

PATENT OFFICE.

H. TOUPET, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

TILE FOR moon STRUCTURES.

Specification of Reissued Letters Patent. R is d )[ay 3() 1922 Original No. 1,404,710, dated January 24, 1922, Serial No. 779,139, filed July 15, 1913. Application for reissue filed March 1, 1922. Serial No. 540,267.

T all 107mm vit mag/ concern:

Be itknown that I, JULIUs H. T oUrEr, a citizen of France, residing at Pittsburgh. in the county of Allegheny and State of Penn- 5 sylvania. have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Tiles for Floor Structures, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. reference being had to the accompanying drawings. forming part of this specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a floor structure or slab embodying my invention;

Figs. 2 and'3 are sections on alarger scale taken respectively on the linesIL-JI and '15-IIIIII of Fig. 1; and i Fig. dis a perspective tiles. My invention has relation to composite floor structures. and is designed to provide a structure of this character which will pos ,sessfma'ny points of superiority over those previously known. Some of the more important advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear.

Thenature of my invention will be best fsunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings. in which I have shown the pre- 'ferred embodiment thereof and which will now be described. it being premised. however, that many changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

In my improved structure. the main com- 35, pression member of the structure is composed of tiles. preferably of burnt clay, although cement or concrete tiles may be employed. These tiles. which are indicated generally at 2 in the drawings. are laid in longitudinal 40 parallel courses, the tiles in each course being placed end to end, but adjacent courses being separated from each other laterally, as-shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The spaces separating the adjacent courses are filled with a plastic ma-- v terial 3. which may be suitably reinforced with metal. This lastic material should be of a carefully ma e composition which will possess substantially the same strength or resistance to compressive loads, per unit of area, as the compressive resistance of the tile,

whereby the floor structure is of uniform strength. This constitutes an important feature of my invention. I prefer to employ a mixture of cement and fine material, such as sand. If concrete is employed. the mixture should be rich enough and so proportioned as view of one of the,

. plastic fillings 3.

to give it the relative strength above stated.

The tiles 2 are of special form. They are made hollow with the interior top arch 4, whereby their resistance to compressive and direct loads is greatly increased. For general use. especially in larger structures and with larger sizes of tiles. I prefer to also construct them with the interior V-webs 5. the downwardly converging arms of the V being joined to the bottom wall of the tile by a relatively short vertical centrallyarranged web 6. These webs not only greatly increase the strength of the tiles. but they divide the hollow interior of each tile into three-cells. any one Of WhlCll may be used as a conduit for pipes, or may be broken into and used for anchorage purposes. independently of the other cells. here it is necessary to fill the interior of the tile for anchorage or other purposes. this filling can be confined to the single cell so used. thus greatly decreasing the weight of the structure as well as saving the material. The particular arrangement of webbing may. however. be changed, and for smaller tiles may be entirely omitted.

Each tile is also preferably formed on each of its lateral faces near its upper end with a longitudinal groove 7. extending from end to end thereof. and preferably somewhat dovetailed in form. These grooves serve a number of important functionsq They constitute an effective bonding means for the They also give these fillings a shear engagement with the tiles. wherebygreater area of the structures is placed in shear. and they also form supporting means for the metal reinforcements or ties in the manner hereinafter described. In some cases. however. these grooves may be omitted. where the adhesion of the cement or plastic material is great enough or where the longitudinal shear is small. or in cases where the grooves would fall below the computed neutral axis of the structure. where the longitudinal shear decreases rapidly.

Each tile is also formed at the bottom with a laterally projecting flange 8. these flanges abutting each other below the plastic material in the. manner clearly shown in 'Figs. 2 and 3. This constitutes one important feature of my invention. since it provides a con- "This construction reinforces, these being protected from below since, as stated, any. desire both by these abutting flanges and by the plastic material'in which they are embedded. The upper and lower surfaces of the t1les may also be longitudinally grooved, as ndicated at 8*, if desired, in order to provide a better bond for cement or composition floors or other-finished floorings, or for the applica-. tion of ceiling plaster. I I

Any suitable system of metal reinforce may be employed. In the drawings, I have shown each of the plastic bodies as having embedded therein the tension members 9 and the compression members 10. The tension members may be supported, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of straps or stirrups 11, which extend upwardly and have hooked upper end portions 12, which engage the bottom walls of the tile grooves 7. here tension members are provided 1n the upper portion of the structure, as shown in Fig. 3,

the stirrups 13 may be employed, these being engaged by the cross members 14, which rest upon the bottom walls of the grooves 7. This particular system of reinforce, however, is not material my invention, ystem may be employed. One of the advantages of my invention, however, is that it enables the use of very much less steel in the construction for a given strength than is ordinarily required, owing to the great strength of the construction itself.

The construction described gives an ideal T-beam structure, which, with the use of a minimum amount of steel, will, for a given load, give less deflection and will be much lighter and more fireproof than the constructions heretofore employed. \Vhile the construction is adapted to spans of widely varying length, it is particularly well adapted to relatively long spans,.such as spans of from twelve to thirtysix feet. The construction is also very largely soundproof, due to the form of the tiles, their hollow interiors being broken up into separate cells and sound vibrations being' compelled to pass through a number of separatedwalls in passing through the tiles.'- These also form a protection against fire, since, should the bottom walls of the tiles drop out, the

webs still give protection to the top which is the real or necessary compress on member ingly strong The combined with the bracing action the necessity for Owing to the arched shape of the tiles, they r are not broken as easilyas ordinary tiles. bottom flanges 8 are relatively narrow,

and hence permit the tiles to be readily manufactured and handled with a minimum amount of breakage of such flanges. These flanges also permit the tiles to be laid either crosswise or lengthwise of the boards upon an open centering, without leakage of the cement between the centering boards.

The floor structure herein described and claimed is distinctly differentiated from floor structures of the flat arch type. It is a floor structure or slab constructed in accordance witlpwhat is known as the straight line formula and in which the amount of tile material in compression above the neutral.

axis of the slab multiplied by the average compressive stress to which such material is subjected is equal to the area of the reinforced metal in tension multiplied by the allowable tension stresses on such reinforc ing material. The tile members of the structure or slab, instead of acting as mere fillers, as in some types of construction, or instead of beingin compression throughout their depth as in the flat arch type of construction, are subject the neutral axis of the slab. These tile members act with the interposed plastic bodies and the reinforced members in such amanner as to form monolithic beams.

The interposed plastic bodies must be of sufficient area in cross section to-enable them to form a substantial part of the structure. In practice, theyshould not be less than oneseventh" of the area occupied by the tiles, and preferably occupy a space equal to about one-siXth of the tile area. It'will be noted that the entire metal reinforcement is carried in these plastic bodies, the tiles themselves being entirely without reinforces or connections one with another. It will also be noted from Figs. 1, 2 and 3, that the reinforces are so "arranged as to provide ample reinforcement above the neutral axis of the structure at the end portions I claim: q a l 1. A hollow tile for floor structures havof the spans.

ing substantially flat upper and lower sure faces, the top portion of the. tile being of. increasing. thickness from its. center toward each of its lateral edges, and supported by to compression only above downwardl conver in bracin webs said tail having longitudinal grooves on its la. eral surfaces above the neutral axis of the tile having longitudinal grooves on its lattom ribs whose lower surfaces form continuations of the lower surface of the bottom of the tile; substantially as described.

2. A hollow tile for floor structures having substantially fiat upper and lower surfaces, the top portion of the tile being of increasing thickness from its center toward each of its lateral edges and supported by a bracing web-structure connecting the upper and lower portions of the tile, said tile having longitudinal grooves on its lateral surfaces above the neutral axis of the tile, and also having lateral projecting bottom ribs whose lower surfaces form continuations of the lower surface of the bottom of the tile.

,3. A hollow tile for floor structures having top and bottom portions which have sub stantially fiat exterior surfaces, the top portion of the tile being substantially thicker than the other portions, downwardly converging bracing webs disposed between the top and bottom portions, said tile having grooves in its lateral surfaces above the neutral axis of the tile and spaced downwardly from the top thereof, and having laterally projecting bottom ribs whose lower surfaces form continuations of the lower surface of the bottom of the tile. 1

4. A hollow tile for floor structures havin top and bottom portions with substantia lly flat exterior surfaces, the top portion of the tile being of increasing thickness from its center toward each of its lateral edges, downwardly converging bracing webs interposed between the to and bottom portions, and laterally projectlng bottom ribs on the lower portion of the tile whose lower surfaces form continuations of the bottom face of thetile. 5. A hollow tile for floor structures having top and bottom portions which have substantially flat. exterior surfaces, the top portionof the tile being of increasing thickness from its center'toward each of its lateral edges, side walls connecting the top and bottom portions, downwardly converging webs between the top and bottom portions, said tile having longitudinal grooves on its lateral surfaces above the neutral axis of the tile and spaced downwardly from. the top I,

groove in its side face above its neutral axis and below the top face thereof, a reinforcing member disposed between the tiles, and a stirrup entered in said grooves for supporting said reinforcing member.

7. In a floor structure, the combination with two adjacent tiles, each tile having a groove in each of its side faces above its new tral axis and below the top face thereof, of a reinforcing member disposed between the tiles, a hanger engaging said grooves for supporting said reinforcing member and a binder filling said grooves and the space between the tiles.

8. In a floor structure, the combination member disposed between the tiles, a hanger engaging said grooves for supporting said reinforcing member and a binder filling said groovesand the space between the tiles.

9. In a building structure, a hollow tile having a top wall consisting of an arched span increased in thickness from its center towards each side, whereby pressure thereon will be converted into lateral thrust and grooves extending through the exterior faces of the side walls into the thickened portions of the arched span.

10. In a building structure, a hollow tile having a top wall consisting of an arched span increased in thickness from its center towards each side, whereby pressure thereon will be converted into lateral thrust, webs connected to and bracing the top wall, and grooves in the exterior faces of the side walls extending into the thickened portions of the arched span.

11. In a building structure, a hollow tile' having atop wall consisting of an arched span lncreased in thickness from its center towards each side, whereby pressure thereon will be converted into lateral thrust, webs connected to and bracing the top wall, laterally projecting flanges at thebottom of the tile and grooves extending through the exterior faces of the side walls into the thickened portions of the arched span.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of February, 1922.

JULIUS H. TOUPET.

Witnesses:

WM. H. PARMELEE, LOIS VVINEMAN.

loo

Certificate of Coiregtion. I It is hereby certified that in Reissue Letters Patent No. 15,369, granted May 30, 1922, upon the applicntion of Julius HrToupet, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for I an impl'ovement in Tiles for Floor Structures, errors appeaf in" the, p i t d spedification requiring corrction as follows? Page 3; ling 2, qlaim 1, fqr jshe word same p d claim; h s 'ik out -Lth ords a;

syllable having longitudinal. groqves onji t s la ndf l d t is: u 19221::

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